Our focus this month is on Euclid Systems Corporation, a company with a long-standing history of managing myopia with orthokeratology (ortho-k). I recently had the pleasure to speak with Euclid President and CEO, Joseph Boorady, OD.

JOSEPH BOORADY, OD
PRESIDENT AND CEO, EUCLID SYSTEMS CORPORATION

Dr. Boorady, please tell us about your company in terms of its history and direction.

The year 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of Euclid Systems Corporation’s founding in Northern Virginia by George and Joann Glady. Myopia was a niche area then, but they felt that it was an area of need. Euclid’s focus has been on managing myopia through its 25 years, and our lenses have served nearly 2 million eyes around the world.

In addition, 2020 was the 10-year anniversary of forming our subsidiary in Shanghai, China. Today, Euclid is proud to be the number one imported ortho-k brand in China.

We currently have about 250 employees globally. All of our lenses are produced in Northern Virginia, where we tripled the size of our facility in 2018. We are planning to double the size of our current space in 2021 to keep up with demand.

After the Emerald lens received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2004, Euclid focused on clinical work and approvals for markets in Asia. This allowed us to establish practitioner training programs in Asia to help increase first-fit success and to guide practitioners in choosing the right parameters, particularly for difficult fits. Euclid has applied those early learnings to establish itself today as a global leader in orthokeratology and childhood myopia.

Tell us about any new developments in which Euclid is involved.

We are excited to have two new products in the near future in 2021 focused on both innovative lens material and design. We also will offer improved packaging and other modifications to our existing offering.

To really attack this pervasive condition, we need to go beyond contact lens specialists. We need all practitioners to understand the need for ortho-k and to have the confidence and capability to fit it. We don’t use trial sets in most cases; with three measurements, we can help practitioners empirically design a lens with first-fit success. We want to continue to make our products accessible for any practitioner so that they feel comfortable fitting patients successfully and safely.

Tell us your vision for the contact lens field in the short term (less than 5 years) and in the long term (20 years from now).

In the short-term, the focus primarily needs to be on myopia education, awareness, and innovation. We need almost all practitioners on a daily basis talking to their patients about being proactive with myopia management.

For innovation, new products take a long time to go from concept to commercial reality. We need to start today to see new products in three-to-five years. Euclid is committed to that, and I’m excited to see other companies committing resources and efforts toward that as well.

In the longer term, once we have a lot of great innovations and more awareness of myopia management, I think that’s when next-generation products will emerge. Even more exciting, we may start to see more combination therapies such as drugeluting contact lenses. As digital technology continues to advance at a lightning pace, I think that we’re going to see more and more digital technology integrated into contact lens designs.

I believe that 20 years from now, what we do today will seem like very early concepts; but, we’re going to realize how much was learned from what we do today. Technology will allow us to advance our options to treat myopia with contact lenses, spectacles, pharmaceuticals, and diagnostic devices now that there’s heightened awareness and commitment by the entire industry to focus on this condition. CLS